Owning a piece of the same homestead that my ancestors settled makes me a steward of this earth. Like my parents and grandparents, there are days when I am sweaty and exhausted from good honest work in the soil; there are days when I sit in my cushioned chair on the deck admiring the clouds. I am fortunate to have ”one foot in the city” and “one foot on the farm.”

One Foot

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Time Out for the Grandson - Priceless

Fireflies are Everywhere

When I was young and busy raising my two sons, I had the
misfortune of living hundreds of miles from my parents and my farm “home.” My sons missed out on the nurturing offered
by close grandparents during the year, a situation I will always regret.I wanted my sons to know my parents and I
wanted them to know something about the experience of farming and raising
plants and animals.Every summer we
combined our efforts to travel those hundreds of miles to take them and return
them to give them a one month stay at the farm.As a result, they learned to love and value the people and way of life
called farmers and farming.

Although I lost my farm house last fall to fire, I am still
a farmer at heart and spend much of my time in gardens and around the
farm.This year, my youngest son and
wife participated in the first grandson visit to Kansas, and we had a wonderful
introduction to “living the good life” in a state saturated with simple living.

If you are lucky enough to live in a rural area near
grandchildren, see them frequently, or perhaps even see them daily because they
live on the next farm, my two weeks of heaven won’t seem like much to you.But if you are experiencing the joy of a
summer visit, as I just did, you will be able to add much to my list of “priceless”
moments.

1)Cool
temperatures in Kansas in July meant 85 degree days and a cool breeze.We could visit the farmers market, swim
without baking our brains, and camp at the farm.He may remember this as the way Kansas is
every year.Ha!

2)Fireflies were everywhere this week!We haven’t seen them for years, but he Is that not cool?
had a
chance to fill a gallon jar with the family kids.

3)Good friends invited us to a 4th of
July picnic complete with crazy chasing games, watermelons, and fireworks.A near midnight shower to remove the chiggers
brought this question – “Grandma, what’s a chigger?’And I had promised to send him home with
fingernail polish on his bites! Chigger count upon return – zero.Go figure.

4)When life required that we do errands, I wanted
them done as quickly as possible so we could do more important things.My fast pace brought this comment – “Grandma,
you sure walk fast for your age.”(Sigh)

5)Visits included field trips to gardens and some
time that must have been tedious for a small kid.He already knew how to entertain himself and
took up with the resident cats we found.Some of the best times were with my Sissy cat slung over his
shoulder.Love conquers all.

Happy Sissy

6)We visited as many local interest areas as
possible and even I was surprised at how interesting some of the Kansas
highpoints are.Maybe it will never be
his home state, and maybe small scale farming is a lifestyle of the past, but
he will form an idea of its importance. Never once did he appear bored or
disinterested.

So my two weeks of wonderful are over and I return to
normal, but I hope each of us recognizes our ability to make magic for a
child.It may be baiting a hook, going
to the animal farm, eating a “roastin ear,” or making home-made ice cream, but
what powerful memories we have to give.